apple hand pies

Now that the weather is warming up, all I can think about is spending time outdoors from afternoon picnics to evening strolls. Even though, I'm spending so much time outside with the family, I'm still doing lots of cooking and baking at home. I've just made some adjustments to make it portable, like these apple hand pies. These are perfect for my husband who loves to take his breakfast-on-the-go or our dessert dates in the courtyard.

So my mom is so cute. She's been hounding me for this recipe after I showed her these hand pies through Facetime the other day. Growing up in a Chinese family, I rarely ate things like this as a child. But I guess now that my parents have lived in the States for over 30 years, they are beginning to show interest in making American food at home. Well, now that I think of it, these do resemble something you can find at dim sum: char siu sou, which is a flaky pastry wrapped around savory roasted pork. Nonetheless, I'm excited to share this recipe with you... and my mom.

apple hand pies

ingredients:

• 1-2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 egg white
• all-purpose flour
• 1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed 
• coarse sugar

directions:

1. Toss apples with lemon juice.
2. Heat up a medium saucepan with butter, add in apples, cinnamon, and sugar. Cook until apples are slightly soft and sugar is melted, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Sprinkle the table or work surface with flour. Unfold 1 sheet of pastry puff on the work surface. Using a round cutter, cut into 9 circles. Repeat with the other sheet of pastry puff. 
5. Brush 9 pastry circles with egg white. Place about 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple mixture in the center of each. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. 
6. Press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. Brush the pastries with egg white and sprinkle coarse sugar on top. Using a sharp knife, cut small silts in the tops of the filled pastries. Transfer the pastries to a baking sheet. 
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Transfer the pastries from the baking sheet onto a wire rack to cool.